The Hill: Consumers saved nearly $4 billion on their insurance premiums last year because of new rules in President Obama’s healthcare law, the administration said Thursday. The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) said consumers saved $3.9 billion last year from new rules that govern insurance companies’ spending. The rules have saved consumers roughly $5 billion over the past two years, HHS said. The health law requires insurance plans to spend 80 or 85 percent of their premiums on medical costs, leaving only the remaining 15 or 20 percent for profit and administrative expenses. They must pay a rebate if they miss the threshold.

Consumers saved money as insurers changed their premiums to comply with the requirement, HHS said in a report Thursday. The new rules first took effect in 2011. That year, insurers paid out more than $1 billion in rebates. Last year saw fewer rebates and more up-front savings, according to the HHS report. Consumers saved $3.4 billion last year as insurance companies lowered their premiums to comply with the new rules. Consumers also received $500 million in rebates from insurers that did not meet the new standards.

Washington Post: The House just voted down the five-year, $940 billion farm bill on the floor. The final tally: 195 yeas and 234 nays. This was unexpected, to say the least. Farm bills have historically sailed through Congress without too much trouble. Yet the House farm bill, supported by the GOP leadership, has faced a particular dilemma. Most Democrats opposed the revised version because it cut spending on food stamps for low-income families by $20.5 billion over the next 10 years.

On the other hand, many conservative Republicans also opposed the bill because it didn’t cut spending enough. Squeezed on both sides, the bill failed after House Speaker John Boehner brought it up for a vote. So what happens next? The White House, recall, had already threatened to veto the House farm bill because of its cuts to food-stamp programs. So it likely wasn’t going to become law anyway. But if the House bill had passed, Republicans could have at least gone to conference and tried to reconcile it with the $955 billion Senate version, which contained far lighter cuts to food-stamps funding.

Roll Call: The House defeated the farm bill resoundingly on a 195-234 vote Thursday, dealing a blow to Speaker John A. Boehner and prompting a bitter round of finger pointing between Democratic and Republican leaders. Most Democrats opposed the bill, unhappy with a deep $20.5 billion, 10-year cut to food stamps and backed by a White House veto threat, while Republicans split into competing factions, with a sizable group opposing the bill over concerns it did not cut deeply enough. Sixty-two Republicans voted against the bill, while two dozen Democrats supported it. The bill’s defeat on Thursday came as a shock to Republican leaders.

The farm bill had been one of the first big tests for the Speaker this year, with immigration and budget battles yet to come.

4:15 PM: VP Biden travels to Las Vegas to deliver remarks to the League of United Latin American Citizens Youth and Young Adults Awards Banquet

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“Mr Sunshine” 😎

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Bild is kind of the German equivalent of The (British) Sun, but you can’t but smile at some of their front pages. I mean, ‘Kiss me Angie”? is their take from yesterday? 😆

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I assumed “Eine Bombige Rede” meant ‘get out the naughty mats’, but no, it’s less important than that, something to do with nuclear disarmament

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NYT: President Obama is preparing a major policy push on climate change, including, for the first time, limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants, as well as expanded renewable energy development on public lands and an accelerated effort on energy efficiency in buildings and equipment, senior officials said Wednesday.

Heather Zichal, the White House coordinator for energy and climate change, said the president would announce the new policy initiatives in the coming weeks. Another official said a presidential address outlining the new policy could come as early as next week.

At the Rose Monday street parade in Cologne, a caricature on a float depicts the US president as ‘Captain America.’ The Rose Monday parade is the pinnacle of Carneval, the German version of Mardi Gras, and often features colorful floats poking fun at German politicians.